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Title: China’s wind farms can now produce more energy than all of America’s nuclear plants
Source:
Quartz
URL Source: http://qz.com/357332/chinas-wind-fa ... ll-of-americas-nuclear-plants/
Published: Mar 8, 2015
Author: Richard Macauley
Post Date: 2015-03-08 07:34:28 by Willie Green
Keywords: None
Views: 21476
Comments: 23
China is building more than a third of the world’s nuclear reactors currently under construction, and has plans to triple its nuclear power capacity by 2020. That has some observers worried about the country’s opaque and politicized nuclear safety regulations. But amid all the hype over nuclear power, China has been expanding its wind power capacity at an even faster clip. Last year, China’s wind farms reached a capacity of 115,000 megawatts, compared with just 20,000 megawatts from its nuclear sector. (To be sure, capacity is different than the actual amount of energy created.) Working at full pace, China’s wind farms could now produce more energy than all of the nuclear power plants in the US. Despite the government’s ambitious goals to keep developing its nuclear energy capacity, for the foreseeable future, nuclear is unlikely to match wind in China. After the 2011 disaster in Fukushima, Japan, the Chinese government put the brakes on building nuclear power stations in the west of the country, as this is an area prone to earthquakes. Meanwhile, the north of China famously struggles with a lack of water, something nuclear power stations require plenty of to keep reactors cool, and the east coast, where there is plenty of water, is home to China’s most developed cities, which are increasingly turning to NIMBY-ism. Beijing says it plans to increase China’s wind power capacity to 200,000 megawatts by 2020, but its own figures see nuclear rising to just 58,000 megawatts in the same time frame. It’s encouraging to think that wind power may be a leap-frog technology in China, skipping over the potentially messy and dangerous issues related to nuclear power. But wishing nuclear away could be unwise, and most of China’s massive—and growing—energy needs are still met by burning coal. If barriers to nuclear persist, the energy gap will likely be plugged by more fossil-fuel power plants, which would render the cleanliness of China’s wind farms academic.
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 23.
#1. To: Willie Green (#0)
(Edited)
24/7/365? LOL. Get serious. Tellingly, the article does not report that China's nuclear plants actually have ever produced more electricity for even a single moment than America's nuclear reactors.
I am surprised you both missed the key put, namely "working at full pace". No wind no generator ever works at full pace. While some wind farms achieve about 50% on-line time the industry average is closer to 35%.
Over a continental area, the wind is not consistent. This is as true in China/Mongolia as it is in America. So the widespread placement of wind generators guarantees they will virtually never all be producing electricity at once. I don't actually object to wind energy. I only object to forcing the insanely high subsidies that force up the price of electricity to all consumers for the private guaranteed-profits of fatcat windfarm owners. Take away the subsidies and I don't object at all. Other than the huge numbers of bird deaths caused by wind farms, particularly that of eagles and other large predator birds. The Audubon Society, a liberal auxiliary in the modern era, remains silent on the bird genocide occurring every day as a result of this misbegotten industry.
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Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestTitle: China’s wind farms can now produce more energy than all of America’s nuclear plants
Working at full pace, China’s wind farms could now produce more energy than all of the nuclear power plants in the US.
#18. To: TooConservative, Willie Green (#1)
Working at full pace, China’s wind farms could now produce more energy than all of the nuclear power plants in the US.
#23. To: SOSO (#18)
I am surprised you both missed the key put, namely "working at full pace". No wind no generator ever works at full pace. While some wind farms achieve about 50% on-line time the industry average is closer to 35%.
Replies to Comment # 23.
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